12 oz bottle from Trader Joe's for a dollar. Currently the closest we'll get to Firestone Walker around here.

Clear, light copper color with a thin off white head that whose lacing slides down the glass with the level of the beer. Best part of the beer, citrusy fruit aroma with a strong malt presence. One of the better tasting TJ beers, and definitely the best IPA I've had from their labels. Slightly thin body but sharp carbonation and hop bite in the finish compensate. Very nice balance of caramel malt body with strong citrus and pine hop taste. While not an exceptional in anyway, a very nice "standby" beer. Once you consider the price, availability and who makes it, you can pretend to enjoy it even more.

$5.99 for a sixer at Trader Joe's, price is right, let's see if the beer is any good.

Pours a bright clear gold color with a decent off white head.

Aromas are pretty nice, hard candies, and some earthy pine like resin notes.

Taste is fairly hoppy, with a nice backdrop of creamy, and somewhat sweet malts. There is also a general hard candy, and light brew tea like flavor as well. Finish is crisp with an earthy hop like note. There is something I can't quite peg though with the flavors, isn't almost as if the hops are a little off. Maybe just a touch too floral for my liking. This is still a pretty tasty beer though.

Mouthfeel is pretty full, with a thick feel to it.

Drinkability is quite good. This is a pleasant surprise, this is a nice IPA, not overly complex, heavy, or strong, but still with good hoppy flavors and a very fair price tag.

Not bad, but not superb either. The smell is probably better than the taste. The smell teases you with the potential of a ballsy IPA, but the taste is more sweet, malty, thick, instead of that crisp bitter hop action. Still, for $5.99 at Trader Joe's this is a good bargain and nice to mix up with Sierra Nevada, which I just did. I'm feeling it.

Poured a clear copper color with an average creamy off-white head that mostly lasted with excellent lacing. Moderate citrus, earthy hop and small malt aroma. Medium body with a slick texture and soft carbonation. Medium to heavy bittersweet flavor with a medium bittersweet finish of moderate to long duration.

Hops hit you up front, but it's not nearly as biting as most American IPA's. The creamy, biscuity malt come in and pretty much linger to the end. It's not as full bodied as other IPA's but it's fairly balanced. The hops and the malt are both a bit weak, like it's watered down. Mouthfeel is alright. Because it's not as biting as other IPA's, it's pretty smooth and goes down easy.

Drinkibility is good, though. It's not heavy and you could easily knock a few back before you realized it.

Notes: All in all, it's not a bad IPA at all. The price is right, and it's a beer that you could give to a buddy who's tired of drinking the same American Adjunct Lagers that take up the majority of the shelf space. A good starter beer.

Saw this for $5.99 at Trader Joe's in Atlanta and thought it was worth a risk.

This is a real value -- an IPA you could serve at a party with no hesitation and yet not feel bad if someone took a couple of sips and wandered away, leaving the bottle on the coffee-table. It's not stupendous, but it's appealing in a straightforward manner, with lots of caramel on the palate and plenty of hops in the nose and on the tongue (hello, I'm an IPA!). It has just enough hops that it would work well with party food, such as cheeses and barbecued wings, without freaking out your cousin Fred who wants to know what all the craft-beer fuss is about.

You aren't going to sit down with this beer and meditate on the history of brewing or wax poetic about its mouthfeel, but so what. It's exponentially better than comparably-priced flavorless beers and could be a good gateway IPA for friends or relatives who have balked at the price of craft beer.

12 oz. bottle purchased at Trader Joe's, and enjoyed in a pint tumbler.

Appearance:
An appealing deep gold with a touch of amber, bright and clear. The thin head of rich-looking off-white foam on top doesn't last long. It coats the inside of the glass when you swirl it, but it doesn't stick.

Smell:
Pretty impressive, really. Plenty of sharp citrus up front, slightly oily like a twist of tangerine peel. There's also a good gust of fresh pine in there, supported by sweet malt.

Taste:
Starts with a one-two punch of sweetness followed by a decent burst of bitter citrus flavors. The mid-palate is malty sweet and bready underneath the ongoing moderate bitterness. There's also some herbal character in there, green and mildly spicy. The beer goes dry at the finish and grapefruit bitterness lingers after the swallow.

Mouthfeel:
The body is medium and slightly sticky, with plenty of carbonation to scrub the palate clean. Just right.

Drinkability:
Overall, this is an uncomplicated, well-balanced, and decently bitter India pale ale. The malt and hop characters are both rather one-dimensional, but this is still a well-made and enjoyable brew. And a great value as well.

Pours a clear golden amber with a hefty white head that remains a cap for the duration and leaves some spotty lacing.

The aroma has some sweet citrus with oranges and lemons leading the way in the nose. There is also plenty of sweet pale malts and a hint of floral pine.

The taste is a little more bland than the aroma and has a big pale malt backbone that has a sweetness that is a bit more dominant than the grassy hops I get. The fruity hops are very fleeting in the taste.

The mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with good carbonation and dry and bitter in the finish, though not a big hop bitterness. It's more like a dull metallic bitterness.

This is an average IPA in my book that lacks a bit in the taste department to stand out from the crowd.

I saw this at Trader Joe's for $5.99 per 6-pk and remembered reading on BA that it's essentially brewed by Firestone Walker so had to give it a try.

I knew immediately from the smell that this was going to be pretty good. Doesn't smell at all like an IPA you'd buy at TJ's. The nice color and head agree. Not a tongue-slapping hop bomb by any means, but a fine IPA in my opinion. I imagine people probably score this beer a grade lower solely because they're biased by the label, but don't fall into that trap. Even for major IPA fans, this is a great, drinkable offering that I will definitely buy much more of. In short, don't judge this book by it's cover.

From a 12 oz. bottle into a pint glass. Pours a clear golden orange with a thin head. Offers little retention and some random lacing.

Smell is citrusy sweet. Hops and sweet malts intermingle and are a bit confusing. Surely just the combination is unfamiliar. Well agitated the beer is rather hoppy, yet this profile plays second fiddle overall.

Taste is similar to the nose and slightly sweet. A viscous mouthfeel tells me that the malts and the hop oils are working together. Lots of orange citrus, and the hops are subdued and buried beneath, or perhaps contibuting to the buttery malts. In the end the hops are ruined by the 'simple sugar' sweetness of the beer, which, it seems, is partly an illusion from the cascade hop presence.

t: falls a little flat here in comparison to the aroma - same characters but a bit on the weak side for my preference, nice tropical hop flavor supported on a pale malt body with touch of caramel, moderate bitterness

Poured from the 12oz bottle into a pint glass. Body is a golden-amber color, topped by a small, thin ring of bright white head. Aroma of sweet, biscuity malt that is somewhat overshadowed by a strong hop profile redolent of grapefruit.
Palate is a flourish of sweet biscuit malt up front that quickly recedes into a noisy hoppy bitterness. Notes of grapefruit, grass, and a hint of sourness are present. The finish is a lingering bitterness from the hops, but not particularly pleasant.
Body is full and slightly creamy, with just a touch of stickiness. This beer goes down fairly easy, but the hop profile is not particularly well-crafted. The bitterness is strong but noisy - it looks like they have a bit more refining to do with the recipe. Still, for less than five bucks for a 6-pack, it's not a bad deal.

Pours a nice coppery amber. Average head that disappates quickly. Nothing exceptional here so far.
Smells actually pretty nice. Quite piney. Mostly piney, small citrus and very very minimal malt notes.
The taste is pretty one dimensional. Hops. In fact, its a bit out of balance for an IPA. The malt profile should have been kicked up, but all you get is hops and then nothing. Leaves a man a little disappointed. Very weak mouthfeel. Feels more like a light beer than an IPA. Could be very nice on a hot summer day though. Low ABV makes this very drinkable.

The smell was actually pretty decent. The caramel malt comes through. but there are also enough floral, grassy hops to make it interesting. Also, very slight citrus, which I always enjoy.

The smell does not mislead. This is a good, grassy IPA, with a nice malt balance. Like their APA, I would love to taste some additional citrus flavor, and maybe a thicker mouthfeel. But, this is still a good beer, especially for $5.99 a six pack. I'd say a bit better than their APA, indeed.

12oz bottle with no visible freshness dating from a local trader joes. into a standard pint glass.

A- this one pours a clear golden to amber colored body with a finger of bright white head.

S- the nose is mostly hops. lots of citrus, and some floral. there is a small caramel malt backbone that comes through at the end.

T- the taste is alot more balanced than the smell. lots of caramel malt upfront with plenty of citrus hops at the end. loads of grapefruit. no trace of alcohol.

M- crisp, clean, and refreshing. light bodied, almost watery. no trace of alcohol.

D- easy to finish, enjoyable, cheap, and always available. this ones a keeper. ill certainly check this one out again at $1.17/bottle. a hidden gem among the rest of the trader joes label. check this out if you get the chance.

Picked up six at the San Jose Trader Joe's, price was right at $5.99, recommended by a helpful staffer.
I drank a couple there, and knew it was very good (good enough to send in a trade), finally getting around to a proper review.
12 oz brown bottle, label as pictured.
Clear, copper colored body with a thin, off-white head. The foam slowly dissipates to thin floating cap, thin lace.
Smells of pine with some herbal hops. Caramel and toasted malt also apparent. Lots of hoppy bitterness, pine resin, citrus, grapefruit. Enough bready malt to keep things in balance. Crisp mouthfeel, medium body, dry finish. Nice hoppy aftertaste.
Good drinkability: an all-around good, easy to drink IPA, a nice suprise.

A - Pours a translucent golden color. Nice and golden honey looking, but completely see through. A slightly agressive pour resulted in a solid finger's worth of a white head that quickly disappeared. Beautiful lacing all the way through.

S - Nice hop smell and with a clear malt presence. Very small hints of pine, more smells of ripe citrus.

T - The taste reveals much more piney hops then the smell would lead you to believe. The flavor is nice, but not very strong, and as quickly as you take it in, it is gone. The aftertaste is nice and bitter with a slight drying effect. Nice pine resins on the back of the tongue.

M - Medium bodied beer with moderate to low carbonation. This is not a DIPA, so I feel this is slightly under carbonated. With a medium body beer I would like to have a bit more carbonation.

D - This is solid representation of an American IPA. Nothing to write home about, but nothing to turn away either. This beers hits the spot, without being overwhelming, and the price can't be beat: $5.99 + tax.

A- Not much head, but nice delicate lacing on the class and floating on top. Bright bronze in color.

S- I think this is the best part. My girl (not really a beer drinker) said that it smelled like strawberrys. I can see that a little, but I get more of a bright citrus/pine thing going on, with a hint of sweetness... very nice.

T- Slight sweetness with mostly a citus hoppy flavor. But what I really like about it is that it doesn't kick you in the face with bitterness. There is enough to support the flavor and give it a back bone, but it doesn't cling to your tounge or blast all of the other flavors away.

M- Light and a little dry. Its nice compared to other sticky feeling IPAs.

D- I could put down quite a few of these easily. This is the second time I have bought this beer and it wont be the last.

My go-to "I'm feeling cheap but want good beer" brew. A buck a bottle, readily available at Trader Joes, and brewed by a respectable brewer (just saw em bottling it at Firestone on Friday, actually).

This is the perfect beer to kick back out of the bottle with friends while playing ping pong. Poured into a glass its a brownish orange with a little spider-webby head.

Aroma is really big...I expected a pretty flimsy IPA the first time I tried this, but its nice! Piney, citrusy, delightfully west-coasty.

Taste is pretty big hops too! Floral pine develops quickly into a rather bitter finish. Sort of like a toned-down Racer 5.

Clean finish with a bit of a puckering sensation from the bitterness.

Can drink a bunch of this. I like it, and drink it quite often.

Sometimes, hanging out with friends and family, I don't like to insist on the best. I don't want to insist on glassware. I don't want to analyze every aspect of the beer, and I just want a beer that meets my personal needs for quality. This is that beer.

The perfect complement to a victorious session of pinging and ponging.

S- Not a whole lot comes through in the aroma. Some faint citrusy hops and caramel malt.

T- A nice maltiness to it. Some juicy hops in there, though fairly subdued. This tastes like a good pale ale, though nowhere near the quality of the standard palate wrecking IPA's we know and love. Finishes with a toasty maltiness. The bitterness is really clean, and pretty mild. It's really a less bitter Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

M- Nice body for an IPA, light still, carbonated well.

D- Good beer when not in the mood for something too abrasive. But it'll be pretty dull if you're expecting a huge flavored IPA.

Pours a clear somewhat light apple juice color with minimal white head, some carbonation, and no sign of sediment.

Has a slight fruity hop smell of pine with some caramel malt aroma in the background.

Has a well balanced taste of caramel malt some fruity hop esters of mainly grapefruit with a hint of a chalk finish.

Medium bodied, resinous feel, with lively crisp carbonation.

A bargain session IPA, for the price at TJs, that is crisp with adequate fruit and caramel malt. A good transitional craft beer, for macro hypers, that can be bought for $1 a bottle. Try this one, the price is right.

Copper body with a decent white head and some nice lace. Piny aroma, with hints of caramel is quite inviting. Really nice balance between sweet caramel malts and piny grapefruit c-hops. In fact, superb balance, and a refreshing change from some of the cookie cutter hop bombs that are being produced. This isn't an IPA that will overwhelm you with bitterness, but I appreciate how it keeps the IBUs in check with some quality malts. The body is perhaps a weak point, bordering on the light, but it does make this a very easy drinking beer. I'd be happy to have access to a sixer of this.

Thanks to BigBry for schlepping this back from the States and then shipping it to me. I liked it!